About New York

Before Lunch

2012-02-26T13:23:00.000-05:00

Haven't done this blog for ages. Feel guilty. The world is not waiting for it exactly. Simply no ideas at all, so take the phone when I go out for the dog's pre-lunch walk.

Wander down 21st Street and turn on the magic Hipstamatic, which turns dross to gold. Well, not exactly dross, but any old photo anyway. What interests me here are the nice crisp shadows in the long window with white blinds.

Being barred out makes the idea of 'inside' that more enticing. No real sunlight in this courtyard though --or only a few beams at high noon.

Lots and lots of shadows and bars and a great deal of GREEN.

More green when I look into La Grainne on the corner of 9th Avenue and 21st Street. Good crepes there but way too many people on a Sunday.

Ah, the artistic shabby-chic where the posters were pulled down

or remain semi-up

The HaHaFresh (really!) convenience store is convenient, and has all the things you run out of as well as fruit and flowers --and they let the dog in which is a big plus.

I think it is almost time to buy tulips. I refuse to buy any flowers out of season, which is very silly since all flowers are in season somewhere. But I would never want daffodils in August or chrysanthemums in May. Would you?

Now pussy willow, on the other hand......

High Line Update

2012-02-22T10:15:00.005-05:00

A Sunday walk

looking East down 23rd Street --all rather grim and monochrome

then, heading south, ghost writing on the exposed brick wall, and the grass looking dead-ish.

but, lo and behold, this too-early spring, the verbena has sprung.

looking North at 22nd Street

and East at 21st Street with the witch hazel

in bloom and the Seminary in the background.

Lots of tourists taking pictures

and tourist's friend getting bored of people taking pictures....

and the tall grasses -- such a dried straw color

a foil for the Sandeman.

too chilly to sit down for a snack

so looking East at 15th Street

and down at the ground.

New Museum

2012-02-19T10:23:00.001-05:00

My main post about The New Museum is here so these are just some leftover photos.

Really worth a visit for all sorts of reasons. I liked the little white jugs with the upside down branches.

I like looking at people looking at things as much as the things themselves.

A security person walking past a painting -- not carrying it as it sort of looks like.

The magic carpet was part of the exhibition and a little boy was resting on it.

Wet Day in Soho

2012-02-16T17:12:00.002-05:00

Wandering in Soho on my way to lunch with with fellow blogger and writer Sarah Laurence. She's American married to and Englishman. I'm the opposite...

Anyway, with the Hipstamatic ap Soho looks old and gritty --here Prince and Lafyette.

Spring Street when the characters in the yellow vests leapt out of their steaming tar vehicle and headed into the pizza shop.

A bicycle echoing a bicycle on the corner of Cosby Street where we once looked at an apartment.

Same place with the cobblestones looking almost Dutch.

Decided to go and lust after high end eats...

and admire all the fruit

at Dean and Deluca.

Waiting for Something

2012-02-10T19:48:00.001-05:00

Quite a lot of the day seems to be spent hanging round

waiting for something to turn up.

in this case the bus

or to discover what exciting things go on underground

here on the subway to see what's on the cell phone or in the paper

here looking bored (and avoiding eye contact)

more newspaper

or looking up the track

to se if anything's coming

Chocolate Week

2012-02-07T11:40:00.002-05:00

One of the perks of being a New York City blogger is getting invited to fun events.

This morning it was the press breakfast at DB Bistro Moderne for Chocolate Week a collaboration of restaurants celebrating the joys of chocolate while supporting Action Against Hunger a really worthwhile cause fighting malnutrition worldwide. The croissants and pain chocolat were exactly as they should be -- feather light and melting.

Chefs had prepared samples of the desserts they will be serving. Here creme brulee with chocolate sprinkled on top with spun sugar. (Raspberry coulis hidden at the bottom....)

Fresh fruit to cleanse the palate -- then strawberries.

The proud inventors of the said delicious desserts: Jean-Louis Gerin, master chef of France (Restaurant Jean-Louis), Ashley Bauze, Executive Pastry Chef (db Bistro Moderne), Claud Goddard, Master Chef of France (Jeanne & Gaston), Brian Gruskin, Executive Chef (Ayza Wine and Chocolate Bar)

The poster for the event asks How much is enough? In the case of most people and chocolate the answer is: quite a lot!

We end with chocolate with edible gold. Gosh!

Bright Morning/ShadowShotSunday

2012-02-04T07:52:00.000-05:00

About 7:30 in the morning. Everyone (except me) rushing to work

The coffee stand on the corner of 9th Avenue is very popular

as is the one on 8th Avenue where you can see the bagels and rolls.

Back to the stand on 9th, pretty heavy on yummy looking carbs.

(This is not exactly my friend Merisi's Vienna!)

Berch has decorated the windows at the Moonstruck Diner

with pink balloons.......probably to celebrate the birth

of my granddaughter Gretchen on February 1st...

Happy Weekend!

For other shadowshots from around the world go here

and for pictures of the snowy winter in Europe --a bit different from New York go here

Gold

2012-02-01T11:16:00.001-05:00

For some reason the Lorax on top of the taxi

pushed me into yellow overload.

Ah! The place where the old lock was and a new one.

The old shape a fleur de lis and somewhat ecclesiastical.

The Theological Seminary Chapel catches the late afternoon light

hidden tight behind bars

with a marvellous tower.

The other side of 9th Avenue on 20th Street the lobby of Chelsea Court glows golden too.

Bits and Pieces

2012-01-29T08:09:00.001-05:00

Waiting for the bus opposite London Terrace

I notice it all wobbly and upside down in the puddle

who knew what cool stuff was hanging out in there

a time of year when you have to skip over the puddles at the corners

or stand in them in new red welly-boots.

a good time of year to haunt the flower shop where

they're busy making arrangements

I tweaked the color of this one while waiting

for a blast of color to take home.

Trees

2012-01-25T11:40:00.000-05:00

22nd Street was shut off so the trees could be trimmed.

an exciting piece of machinery (if you like machinery) and a chap up a tree

by the old Empire Diner, now called The Highliner. The food is better.

Another person up a tree

then, lo and behold, just west of 10th Avenue, Lego up a tree. This is an artsy neighborhood. Perhaps this was someone's art project.Seems a bit wasteful to leave it in the tree, but not for me to say.

The reflections of the bare branches are the best bit in this person's project. While I understand that people have strong feelings about things (we all either do or should) it would be horrid if everyone shouted them all at once. Waking up, thinking and rejecting fear have got me quite tuckered out already

so the cabbages (posing as cabbage roses) were a welcome respite in the tree pit by the corner of 9th Avenue. Pity about the chips wrapper but what can you do?

Rain at Dusk

2012-01-24T07:37:00.001-05:00

After the snow, the rain.

Five o'clock: dog, cell phone camera. $5 umbrella

Only a little bit of snow left (lower right).

Chelsea hotel in the background.

Another dog going for a walk too.

Sparkles...

and a pink sidewalk.

My Life as a Spy

2012-01-21T12:18:00.002-05:00

The snow is still coming down

so the Empire State Building appears rather dim.

I enjoy looking out of the window and wonder if

the green umbrella signifies anything...

or whether it is merely a green umbrella.

These two men almost certainly have nothing to do with one another

any more than this chap coming back from RiteAid ( I can tell from the bag)

has to do with the man in the knit cap....but you never know.

People and Not People

2012-01-19T15:04:00.002-05:00

One thing about living in the city is that you run

into a lot of people whether you like them or not.....

all fit and cheery in Old Navy

waiting to cross the road on 6th Avenue

repainting the white crossing lines (the thing the guy on

the right is holding is the street equivilant of a blow-dryer)....

walking past a truck on 23rd Street

and endlessly doing things to leaky windows.

So, after a bit, it all gets too much....

and one turns to inanimate objects like a door on 20th Street

a nice austere window on the same road

with the rusty urn by the rectory

or even the shadows falling on the Kissam House in Huntington, Long Island....

ps Am reading Anatole Broyard's 1993 Greenwich Village memoir Kafka was the Rage --such a vivid evocation of the post World War II art scene in New York. Highly recommended.

Downtown

2012-01-13T07:39:00.006-05:00

City Hall (seen below) is quite near the Social Security office at 26 Federal Plaza

where I spent a happy morning yesterday, and remembered waiting there in 1979 when I only had a green card and needed to get a permit to visit my mother in England. That was the memorable occasion upon which, when I asked if there was a bathroom was told, "Yes, but an alien took the key."

downtown has more fire escapes than round here

which makes for lots of stripes.

Then on to the jollity of Chinatown

where we anticipate the arrival of the very excellent dumplings

at Excellent Dumpling on Lafyette Street. Here fried vegetable dumplings. I also recommend the scallion pancakes. Lunch for two: $12.75.

The painters take a pause in painting the poster for Incredibly Loud and Incredibly Close overlooking Canal Street. Reminds me of the eyes of Doctor T. J Eckleberg in The Great Gatsby.

A Day of Trains

2012-01-08T14:33:00.002-05:00

Grand Central Station is grand indeed

much better than poor old Penn Station which has nothing to recommend it at all.

GrandCentral is all marble and people taking photos of it.

Then there are the grubby underneath bits where things actually get done.

We alight at Botanical Garden Station in bright sunlight and head for the Conservatory

where a landing strip sits near the jungly water

and lo and behold the Statue of Liberty is reflected in the pool.

and through it all wend the trains to the junior set's delight.

And after that, gosh, a meet and greet with Thomas the Tank Engine.

Pretty heady stuff!

Winter Wardrobe/New York Fashion

2012-01-06T14:46:00.000-05:00

As has so often been pointed out, New Yorkers, on the whole, shun colors.

See the chilly pigeons above near the West Side Highway

and the people waiting for the bus on 23rd Street.

However, there are always bold individualists -- at the dog park

near Macy's

and inside Macy's itself.

A Visit to the Florist

2012-01-03T16:55:00.001-05:00

A blast of bitter cold air sent us scurrying to the florist on the corner of 22nd Street

where pure white amyrillis beckon

not to mention the gerber daisies and the orchids.

We end up with a bouquet of while lilies and some utterly out of season delphiniums (which I doubt will last) but the color is so utterly seductive.

The poor florist's cat got her tail trodden on in the proceedings and

screamed blue murder but seems none the worse for wear.

Chelsea Morning

2012-01-01T10:38:00.000-05:00

One of the last mornings to look at the tree...

very soon the old ornaments will go back in the box.

On 22nd Street the monsters dancing on the wall

make me glad I wasn't out late celebrating last night.

Life pretty much back to normal on 23rd Street.

Happy New Year

2011-12-27T12:44:00.003-05:00

Time to
eat up all the candy
and leftovers
make soup
send out cards to everyone who got lost in the shuffle
remember old friends
dither
make plans
and
most importantly
NAP

ps this is this blogs 700th post
more nap needed.....

Last Minute

2011-12-23T15:46:00.003-05:00

The local diner has snowmen on the window

though we haven't had any snow since October.

The bagel shop has similar merry decorations.

I managed to find some real holly in Union Square this morning when I was up there this morning with Mari from Finland and her husband.

Then home where the decorating and gift wrapping commenced. The troll and the snowman live in boxes all year and get to escape at Christmas,

as do Sponge Bob and the terrifying bug whose head can be pulled away from his body.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

The Delights of Shopping

2011-12-21T07:59:00.001-05:00

Old Navy on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn

was astoundingly bright.

My sister in law, visiting from England, loves shopping

in the US where there are much better bargains.

The guitar shop next to the Chelsea Hotel has instruments signed by important people.

Not a shop exactly but a festive window at the dry cleaners.

What a bizarre melange at the bric-a-brac shop on 9th Avenue!

All peace and love at the pet supplies shop.

Happy shopping.

Midwinter Birthday

2011-12-20T15:48:00.000-05:00

HAPPY 2nd Birthday, Henry

Subway Series

2011-12-17T14:43:00.001-05:00

Was heading down to Soho this morning.

and discovered that the subway seemed a very popular place to sleep.

The end of the line was about four stops on so I expect they woke up then.

In the photos the metal rails look like the intestines of a prehistoric fish ....sort of.

Anyway, we get to Spring Street

and emerge into the light

where I see a very jolly Christmas dress

(which I do not buy since I doubt I would look good in it)

and pretty jewels in another window. I buy rubber weather

boots and a bar of soap and some other things

which I will not mention since the recipients

have been known to read this blog.

A child sleeping in the subway

and another child in a jolly hat heading somewhere nice, I hope.

Greenery

2011-12-14T13:25:00.001-05:00

Fifth Avenue this morning in search of Christmas presents.

A bewildering choice of possibilities -- so I probably got the wrong thing.......

I went to look at the natural stuff in Union Square. Here a suitably skinny tree, which, to my mind, shows off the ornaments better. Others may disagree, and even want an artificial one. Luckily, I am not the Christmas decorations police.....

A wreath is an excellent thing. Round and satisfactory

pine cones are good too though it seems rather odd to buy them.

more greenery

red berries

and roses too

silver balls in a store

and a glimpse of the Met Life Building from Broadway.

Flowers at home left over from a party

and the faithful hound who has escaped from his own blog.

Even though Reya may disapprove I do love my Hipstermatic app.

Lots of Everything

2011-12-13T11:40:00.000-05:00

The Santas have arrived

on the bookshelf

and on 8th Avenue outside

the florist with the cat and the red berries.

In the 60's I spy an antiques shop with treasures within

and the window of Bloomingdales.

ps What splendid silver boots!

Uptown there are tasteful decorations with giant pinecones

and a house swathed and swagged

even the buildings are complex and stunning

and the diner jam-packed.